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Moonlight Tower: 1890

Circa 1880-1899. "Majestic Building, Detroit." And a good view of one of the "moonlight tower" arc lamp standards whose base can be seen in the previous post. Some of these towers are said to have made their way to Austin, Texas, where they are the sole remaining examples of their kind. View full size.

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RDown3657 stated that everything in this photograph is gone. There are at least two buildings on Merchant Row that are still standing. The Vapley Building (look for Vapley Brother Shoes in the photograph) is currently being renovated into loft apartments, and the building immediately south with the arched windows (I do know know of a name for it- it is at 1401 Woodward at the corner of Grand River. There may be others still standing, but those are the only two I can identify with 100% certainty. And, of course, the Soldiers and Sailors statue still remains.

I was one of the two crane operators that participated in the demolition of the building in 1962. We hoisted a small 10 ton Bantam crane and a small John Deere loader-dozer atop the building and slowly worked our way to the third floor where the building was becoming unstable. We removed the equipment and finished the demolition from the ground. I worked for Arrow Wrecking Co. for nearly 20 years and am now retired to Upper Michigan. The photos of the demolition brought back many fond memories of my old home town. Thanks.

The corner of old Detroit City Hall is seen at the left edge of the photo. In one of the most notorious incidents in the history of Detroit, as preservationists and boosters alike fought to save the old city hall, an injuction was filed to stop the demolition. The contractor snuck a bulldozer into the site at midnight and demolished the portico on the front of the building, compromising the structural integrity of the edifice, and forcing the full demolition.

The lady in the lower right stands atop the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which commemorates the civil war. The statue, as mentioned above, was recently moved about 100 feet, to accommodate the re-creation of a park in Campus Martius. Its still there and looks as good as the day she was unveiled. Stop in sometime and have a look. Its at the heart of downtown Detroit.

General William Booth wasn't just any Salvation Army speaker, he founded the organization in 1878, after the 13 years that he and his wife Catherine spent leading his East End (London) organization, The Christian Mission, nee The Christian Revival Society, itself formed after his four unhappy years as a Methodist (they wanted him to take a pastorate, he wanted to travel and evangelize). Initially regarded as a crank, by the time of this photo both William Booth and his Salvation Army were highly regarded.

I am wondering if The Auditorium refers to the Auditorium of the Detroit Museum of Art, which at the turn of the century was criticized for booking "shallow" speakers, not aligned with the "purposes for which the art museum was organized." (see: "Museum on the Verge," by Jeffrey Apt, Wayne State Press, 2001)

I'd forgotten all about these. I moved to Austin for college 40 years ago and lived near a light tower myself. It wasn't "the only light source," but Austin in those days was a much, much smaller town with far less light pollution than today. The artificial moonlight was noticeable from almost anywhere in town, as I recall.

"The finest commercial structure in Michigan is the Majestic Building, Detroit, occupied by the department store of C.A. Shafer ... Mr. Shafer uses eight floors and the basement."

In 1901 Shafer was bought out by Pardridge & Blackwell. This photo must date from between 1896, when the building was completed, and 1901, when P & B took over. Also, General William Booth (as advertised on the street banner) did a tour of U.S. cities in 1898.

But I think this might be 1902. Because the sale signs say, "A BUSINESS REVOLUTION Change of Ownership-Management".

Which jibes with this, from 1902:

Pardridge & Walsh, dry goods merchants, for many years at the corner of Woodward avenue and Congress street, purchased the immense stock and fixtures of C. A. Shafer in the Majestic building for about $140,000, and continued the management of both stores until the end of the year.

[Finish reading the signs and you'll see that the photo shows C.A. Shafer moving into the building, not out of it. This negative is listed in the 1899 Detroit Publishing catalog. - Dave]

I live about two miles from one of the "moon towers" in Austin. It's very high up, and shines brightly every night. Of course, there's lots of other light around, so it's hard to tell just how much it's casting. I've often wondered what it would look like if it were the only light source.

There's another tower at the next intersection. It must have been successful because I can't see any remains of the gaslights that must have preceded it. The Peninsular Electric Light Company was founded in 1891 to run Detroit's street lights. It seems there were 142 of them (but probably not 142 towers).

The early carbon arc street lamps were not necessarily as popular an innovation as one might assume. I don't know what Detroit residents thought of theirs, but a similar system was installed in San Diego in 1886, and earned many bitter complaints from the residents. The lamps were too bright for one thing, and people who had grown up with candles and kerosene lantern lights were appalled by the harsh, blue-white arc lights that cast shadows deeper than the noonday sun. The company's solution was to raise the masts to as tall as 125 feet (below, in an 1887 photo), but it scarcely helped. And the heavy carbon rods were exposed to the moist and often foggy night air from the adjacent bay, resulting in an all-night racket of pops and small explosions that kept everyone awake. San Diego's carbon arc lamps lasted only to 1889, when the lighting company failed in a local economic collapse, but their removal was unlamented by the long-suffering residents.

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